Harris drops out, backs Lamont in governor’s race

West Hartford Mayor Jonathan Harris talks about the changes in his city during a gubernatorial forum for seven Democratic candidates for Governor at Fairfield Woods Middle School on Sunday, March 11, 2018, in Fairfield, Conn. less

West Hartford Mayor Jonathan Harris talks about the changes in his city during a gubernatorial forum for seven Democratic candidates for Governor at Fairfield Woods Middle School on Sunday, March 11, 2018, in ... more

Photo: Alex Von Kleydorff / Hearst Connecticut Media

Photo: Alex Von Kleydorff / Hearst Connecticut Media

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West Hartford Mayor Jonathan Harris talks about the changes in his city during a gubernatorial forum for seven Democratic candidates for Governor at Fairfield Woods Middle School on Sunday, March 11, 2018, in Fairfield, Conn. less

West Hartford Mayor Jonathan Harris talks about the changes in his city during a gubernatorial forum for seven Democratic candidates for Governor at Fairfield Woods Middle School on Sunday, March 11, 2018, in ... more

Photo: Alex Von Kleydorff / Hearst Connecticut Media

Harris drops out, backs Lamont in governor’s race

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HARTFORD — The path to grabbing the Democratic nomination for governor became a little easier for Ned Lamont on Friday when Jonathan Harris, a former state senator and head of the state Democratic party, dropped out, endorsing the Greenwich cable executive.

Harris, standing next to Lamont, told reporters in the Capitol he wanted to bring the party together at a time when Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s low approval rating is seen as dragging down the party’s chances in the fall elections.

“It was a tough decision but the right decision,” said the 54-year-old lawyer, a former mayor of West Hartford who was most recently commissioner of the state Department of Consumer Protection. “The state is at a turning point right now. We need to make real change, real progress, and I’ve just concluded that it was in the best interest of the state and the best interest of the party that I step back from the race.”

Harris, on the campaign trail for months, said that while he thought his candidacy had the potential to divide the party, he became more convinced that Lamont, 64, should ultimately be the party’s candidate and the next governor.

“He understands how an innovative economy is crucial to us moving forward,” Harris said.

“I cannot be prouder than to have Jonathan Harris’s endorsement,” Lamont said. “As he says, we’ve traveled the state a lot for the last four months. I’ve had a chance to know him a lot better, as well as a chance to know all the other candidates, so it’s a very considered judgment that Jonathan makes when he endorses me. and we’re going to working together in the future.”

Both Lamont and Harris said there was no deal made for other offices should Lamont win, or candidacies when the 1,998 Democratic delegates meet in Hartford the weekend of May 18 for the statewide nominating convention.

With Harris’s campaign suspended and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin out of the race for the nomination, remaining candidates for the endorsement include Susan Bysiewicz of Middletown, a former secretary of the state who served in the state House of Representatives; Sean Connolly of Hebron, former state Veterans Affairs commissioner in his first campaign for elective office, and Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who is hampered by a criminal record and exclusion from the state’s public-finance program.

Guy Smith of Greenwich has decided to bypass the convention, amid charges that it is rigged for Lamont.